more pinterest ideas

Lately I have been trying a lot of recipes/other ideas, thanks to pinterest. One of those ideas is using sliced bell peppers as egg molds. Just put a bit of oil in a non-stick skillet, slice a bell pepper and crack an egg in the middle, season w/ salt & pepper and cover and cook on low until done :) I should have used larger peppers, this one was a little too small and the egg "bled" out.

Hubby gave this two thumbs up :)

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Crockpot Lasagna

This was so easy! It's hard to get that "lasagna" shape when serving (so it's just a bowl of noodles, beef & Italian cheese) but it tastes pretty damn good!

I also really need to start taking pictures of the whole set-up/cooking process.

1 package of ground beef (I used 93% lean and the meat is still moist, not dry at all!) - this package was roughly around 2lbs, btw
2 jars of pasta sauce (I used Prego Tomato, Onion & Garlic)
Ricotta cheese
1 package of shredded Italian cheese (I used Italian Blend)
Lasagna noodles, *uncooked*
Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste (I used to season the beef)

Brown the beef in a skillet, season to taste. Drain off excess grease. Mix in jars of pasta sauce.

For the crockpot, I suggest spraying with non-stick spray...I didn't have any, so I just took a towel and rubbed a bit of vegetable oil all along the sides.

Cover the bottom of the pot with the beef/pasta sauce mixture.
Layer lasagna noodles (I had to break mine up a bit to make them fit).
Spread ricotta cheese. I admit it was hard to spread this smoothly.
Sprinkle Italian cheese(s) on top of ricotta.
Top with more beef/pasta mixture and repeat.

I made 2 layers using all ingredients, then once I ended with the beef/pasta mixture, I added more lasagna noodles then topped with the remaining beef/pasta sauce mixture. The crockpot was about 2/3 full.

Cover and cook on LOW for about 4 hours, then about 5min before serving sprinkle some more Italian cheese(s) on top.

So yummy!

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....and a simple dessert....microwave cinnamon apples!

Okay, the moment I saw this, I had to try it.

Cinnamon apples = fall. It's not very fall-ish in Texas right now, which makes me sad. Fall is my favorite season.

1 apple (I used a Gala apple for this because that is what I have on hand, but you can use whatever apple you like!)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp corn starch (I used all-purpose flour because that's all I have on hand)
1 spoonful of sugar (I just used regular granulated sugar...but if you would rather use Stevia or Splenda or something, go right ahead!)
1 tbsp water
Raisins (optional)

Slice your apple. I'm lazy and use an apple slicer. Best thing ever. You can choose to leave the skin on or peel it off...I left it on, but I think next time I will peel them. Throw everything into a bag and shake/mix around until everything is evenly coated. Open the bag a bit to vent, place in the microwave for 2 minutes and viola! They're done :) Easy clean-up, too...just throw away the bag! But be careful, because the bag will be VERY hot and be careful of steam burns!

This would be amazing with some vanilla ice cream.... :)

Hainanese Chicken Rice

My apartment smells HEAVENLY right now!!!

This is a Hainanese Chicken Rice recipe, adapted from HERE.

Although the name is of Chinese origin, this is considered to be Singapore's national dish. It's so simple!

Of course, I can't get a true "kampong" chicken (a chicken from a village) and I honestly do not have a pot big enough to boil a whole chicken. So instead, I bought a $5 rotisserie chicken from Walmart lol. I carved out all of the breast meat and cut it into smaller chunks. You could use the leg meat if you want, but I prefer all white meat.

1 chicken
3 cups of Jasmine rice, uncooked
3 cups of chicken stock (I used Swenson's 30% Reduced Sodium Chicken Stock)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 slice of ginger, minced
matchstick carrots, diced (I just grabbed a handful from the bag lol)
vegetable oil
salt & pepper to taste

Take the Jasmine rice and rinse a couple of times, then soak in water for at least 10 minutes. Drain and try to get as much liquid out as possible.

While my rice was soaking, I went ahead and minced the garlic and the ginger. I heated a pot with some vegetable oil and added the garlic and ginger and stir-fried on medium-high heat. OMG the smell was amazing and SO FRAGRANT!! Just be careful not to burn them, which I have a tendency of doing...but today, I was successful! Yes!

Once the garlic and ginger are fragrant, add the rice and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the stock and carrots. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low and cover for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, take put the pot aside (with the lid still on) and let it sit for another 5-10 minutes. Refrain from opening the lid, because this the heat/steam is crucial to the cooking process for the rice!

While I was waiting, I sliced up the chicken breast. Once the rice has "rested" go ahead and add your chicken and you're ready to go!!!

This was soooooooooo delicious!!! I'm sure it would taste even better if I cooked my own chicken and made my own stock, but for my adaptation this was VERY tasty. The rice was perfect, the carrots were tender (I was afraid they would be underdone...probably so if I used larger chunks) and the rotisserie chicken compliments the rice very well. I highly suggest you try this!

Mint oreo brownies!

Don't these look deeelish?
And they were so easy!
Recipe adapted from Making Memories :) I had to make some changes because I lacked some ingredients, but these brownies turned out AMAZING! Perfect for my sweet tooth and hubby loves them.

* 1 box of brownie mix (I used Duncan Hines dark chocolate)
* 1 package of Mint Oreos, divided into 3 piles (I just divided them based on the rows in the package since there are three of them lol)
* 1 8 oz block of cream cheese, softened
* 2 cups of powdered sugar (Omitted because I didn't have this, I just used granulated sugar, and I did not use anywhere near 2 cups. This I just kind of eyeballed)
* 1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip thawed and in the fridge (Forgot to buy this at the store, so I just used the whipped cream I had in the fridge)

Make brownies according to box instructions. Fold-in 1/3 of Oreos. Bake according to instructions. Cool completely.
In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Fold-in Cool Whip (or whipped cream) and 1/3 of Oreos. Spread over brownies.
Top with remaining 1/3 of Oreos. Refridgerate for 20-30 minutes then serve.

The original recipe called for an additional chocolate layer but since I didn't have chocolate chips on hand (and I was too lazy to go back to the store) I omitted that step.

Mine didn't look as "pretty" as Making Memories', but they were still amazingly delicious and rich!

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yummy meatballs!

I've had a nice, relaxing few days off :)

I'm off tomorrow, too!

Then I have to work Thursday, Friday & Saturday night :(

Monday I made spaghetti & meatballs. The spaghetti part was nothing fancy, but I actually made the meatballs from scratch this time. They turned out really well and flavorful, and hubby LOVED them. He said they were the best meatballs he has ever had :D

They reminded me a lot of my mom's meatballs, and her meatballs are the bomb dot com. Mine could have been a bit more moist, but that is probably because I used 96% lean (or whatever) beef. I need to use fattier meat next time.

Here's the recipe:

* 1 lb ground beef

* 1 egg

* 1/4 cup milk

* 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs It did not specify fresh, but I used fresh anyway...a couple of slices of whole wheat bread with the crusts cut off and toasted just a bit so that I could actually make them into breadcrumbs lol

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 1 tsp oregano

* 1 tbsp fresh parsley I forgot to buy parsley, so I omitted this

* 1/2 tsp garlic powder

* 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

* 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Basically you mix everything together...I did it by hand, and tbh it was kind of gross messing with all of that meat haha...take pieces and roll into balls, and drop them right in the sauce. I kept it on medium-low for awhile then let it simmer, stirring occasionally. Recipe says to simmer for about 3 hours; I think mine cooked for about 2 1/2. They were fully cooked and delicious.

Today I was able to switch my birth control back to what I was taking before! Finally!

I have been on Microgestin 1/20 for about 6 months and have noticed a gradual decrease in libido :/

This month it has pretty much been nonexistent :( I never had that problem while on Sronyx!

Not to mention Microgestin also randomly made me skip my period one month, which freaked me out.

Tomorrow I'm going to make orzo pasta with shrimp, garlic, basil & grape tomatoes simmered in a white wine sauce.

Hope it comes out okay.

Unlike my father, who was an executive chef, I was not blessed with culinary talent haha.